Rise of the Beasts Showtimes
In the two-season Beast Wars TV show, Optimus Prime and Megatron square off against one another in a battle between generations. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics introduced several additional characters — such as female Autobot Arcee — in order to challenge its inherent sexism.
Movie Info
Rise of the Beasts, the latest entry in the Transformers franchise that finds metal aliens punching and blasting each other, is an unexpectedly enjoyable ride. Though still filled with earnest diatribes and hokey zingers, Rise of the Beasts brings genuine human drama while showing genuine affection for its title characters; therefore it serves to restore some of this franchise’s lost glory.
Rise of the Beasts is based on the Beast Wars computer-animated TV series, which introduced Maximals into an ongoing war between Autobots and Decepticons. Set during the 1990s, Rise of the Beasts sees Autobots and Predacons fighting over an ancient key that can return them home planet Cybertron.
Rise of the Beasts stands apart from its more offensive and sexualized predecessors in that it does not contain an overly-explained plot that might bore casual viewers of its franchise’s lore, instead offering up an enjoyable action flick complete with quality 1990s hip-hop, likeable characters, and no cringeworthy love stories.
This film offers some impressive visual effects, including an adorable rhino-like robot and an enormous Mecha King Kong; however, too many plot holes and trashy stylistic elements hamper its narrative and some unexpected sudden appearances of bot soldiers and giant warp machines simply seeming to fill up running time are distractingly added on for no discernible reason.
Cast & Crew
Rise of the Beasts features both familiar faces from other Transformer movies as well as some newcomers, while taking inspiration from Beast Wars toys and animated series. Set in 1994, Rise of the Beasts follows Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals (their time-travelling descendants who take animal form), Terrorcons (planet-eating ruler Unicron), Maximals and Terrorcons as they seek destruction in service to their planet-eating ruler Unicron.
Anthony Ramos from Hamilton stars as Noah Diaz, an ex-military electronics expert living with his family in Brooklyn. Ramos is joined by Isabela Moner who plays Ally – also an Emmy winner who has appeared on several other shows such as iZombie and The Jim Gaffigan Show.
Peter Cullen will play the title role as Optimus Prime, while Cristo Fernandez – best known from FX’s Pose and other movies such as Assassination Nation and If Beale Street Could Talk – takes on Wheeljack. Both actors boast decades of acting experience.
John DiMaggio voices both Stratosphere and Transit, two Autobot air-soldiers who provide transport for the team. He previously voiced Bender on Futurama and Jake the Dog on Adventure Time as well as Dr. Drakken from Kim Possible and Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy animated series. Finally, Tongayi Chirisa voices Cheetor – an Maximal with an animal mode that looks exactly like its name!
Trailers
Rise of the Beasts, the first standalone Transformers installment since 2018’s Bumblebee, is an impressive entry with some minor flaws but overall represents an improvement over previous efforts in rebooted franchise. Director Steven Caple Jr. effectively balances paint-by-number intergalactic doomsday storytelling and action sequences into an entertaining whole, though its epic levels don’t reach those reached by its predecessor – nevertheless Rise of the Beasts nonetheless represents a positive step in an otherwise declining franchise.
This movie excels at giving its human characters, typically found in this genre, enough depth and development that they remain tolerable when engaged in brutal combat with giant robots. That is especially true of Anthony Ramos and Titus Welliver – two actors surprisingly likable as Brooklyn electronics expert Noah Diaz and ex-soldier Optimus Prime respectively.
This film offers plenty of action, explosions and battle sequences with plenty of explosions and large battle sequences. There’s some mild violence as well as robot character deaths. While not as high-quality as some other action films, this one remains entertaining and worthwhile watching.
Bumblebee was released just in time for Christmas and I don’t believe this was just by chance. It is an exceptional movie suitable for family viewing and I hope this trend continues into future releases.
Release Date
Paramount Pictures’ last Transformers film, Bumblebee, earned an impressive 55% on Rotten Tomatoes; following that success they hope Rise of the Beasts can provide enough Energon to keep the franchise rolling forward. Based on 1990s computer-generated television show Beast Wars which followed descendants of Autobots and Decepticons (Maximals and Predacons) fighting over control on an unknown planet, Paramount hopes Rise of the Beasts can do the same.
Director Steven Caple Jr introduces Mirage as the new Autobot hero who will replace Bumblebee as an agent that links humans. A Super Bowl spot featured Mirage interacting with both an underprivileged young person and Maximal leader Optimus Prime, making his first appearance.
The Maximals are depicted similarly to how they appeared in the cartoon: an advanced race of beast-mode Transformers equipped with transwarp technology who utilize this mode to travel between planets. While this concept was scaled back for the film version, some references remain on-screen.
Rise of the Beasts follows Bumblebee and includes high-speed robot chases and confrontations, with theater release set for June 9th 2023. Hulu will offer it with premium subscription, while VOD services like Amazon will carry it. Furthermore, Paramount+ subscription service will offer it with one free week trial subscriptions.